Managers and HR are doing too much. Both are reactive to staffing issues and employee relations, which take up vast amounts of time. This time could be better spent developing and implementing long-term strategic plans for your business. By making some changes, your business can free up time to create more value by targeting focused efforts on achieving outcomes that matter to both your business and your talent. The world of work is changing and as a result, having a strategic approach to both business and HR is crucial.
So what can be done to enable Managers to have less to do, so they can drive your business and HR can focus on more impactful solutions? Here are 5 things that businesses can do to create more time, enabling them to work smarter and make a greater strategic impact.
1. Use an online HR management system
‘According to the IDC research, 87% of UK organisations recognise digital transformation as a business priority, including the digitisation of HR processes.’
When you use an online HR system, it reduces the time needed to manage more administrative tasks and paperwork. Keeping important information and documentation up to date is quicker and easier online. Company handbook and policies can be updated and disseminated to everyone with one click. You can even acknowledge who has or has not read the policies. Keeping employee documentation and emergency contact details up to date is also easier online.
Using online HR Systems benefits not only your Managers and HR team by streamlining administrative tasks, but also your employees and so, your business. Performance management features enable easier communication and progress towards objectives. You can also link them to overall company objectives, enabling you to standardise the way you manage performance and retain work focus on what is most important for the business.
Holiday allowance management becomes easier too. Having an online HR system in place enables employees to view their allowances and request leave digitally, removing the hassle of having to request and fill out the necessary forms or ask for updates on their remaining allowance. Having all the relevant information in one place makes the procedure simpler and more efficient for everyone.
2. Devolving people management activities to line managers
Strengthening line management can have a tremendous positive impact company-wide. Through courses such as CMI management training schemes, line managers become more confident in performing management tasks, like managing the efficiency of their teams and developing company culture. Growing confidence leads to greater efficiency. The more efficient your managers become in handling daily management tasks, the less time these will begin to take.
Devolution can then increase HR and management’s involvement in the operation of business units and in the organisation’s strategic planning by freeing up time which was previously taken up.
3. Encourage collaboration between departments who work closely together
Facilitating internal communication within the organisation allows it to run more smoothly. This is especially important as initiatives like flexible or remote working have grown in popularity. Encouraging communication and collaboration between departments, particularly those who need to have regular contact with one another creates transparency, making it easier to work towards the same goal.
This transparency means managers no longer need to spread themselves so thinly across multiple departments, enabling them to put all their energy into a single project and achieve greater results.
4. Run your department like a business
Schedule weekly meetings with your team members to make sure everyone is on the same page. By communicating effectively with the rest of your team, you represent good HR practices to other departments and encourage them to follow your example.
Put in place a feedback loop or an audit so you know what is being accomplished by the rest of your team. Just like getting feedback from other employees within the business, receiving feedback from your own team strengthens your department and allows it to operate more effectively. Again, operating effectively means less time is wasted through miscommunication and consequential errors.
5. Document process
This means everyone can follow the same steps and action plan, which automatically generates a consistent approach to HR within your organisation.
Documents such as our Employment law checklist or Company culture checklist are not only a fantastic way to ensure everyone is on board, but these documents also allow other departments to be proactive in their approach to HR. This means HR becomes strategically managed throughout the business, while still enabling HR to step in where necessary.
Implementing simple processes can have an enormous knock-on effect, allowing managers to focus their attention on projects which benefit both the business and its employees in the long term. Working smarter frees up time which previously may have felt unavailable. This leads to increased involvement in the businesses strategic planning, building company culture and other strategic work, helping the company achieve its goals.
Are your managers overwhelmed with administrative tasks or unable to take a more strategic approach? Park City can help. Get in touch.
